My Dad, the Dog Challenged

This isn't really about my dad. It's about my doofy dog, Logan, and his best friend Asia, and a time a couple of years ago when the air was fresh, the sun was shining, and the gate was open. I blogged about it once before but was chastised for not having any new posts on my blog, and it was the story that came up in conversation, so here goes...

At the time, Dad was working on building a deck onto my back porch. He was carrying things in and out of the back yard and he decided it would be a good idea to leave the gate open so he would not have to lock and unlock it each time he came through. His brain told him it would be all right to leave the gate open, though I'm not sure why. We had already had an incident at Mongo where Dad took the dogs to the camp land, opened the truck door, and they promptly ran off the property, across the street, and into a cow pasture where they tipped a baby cow. Yes, these are the dogs Dad entrusted with an open gate.

It was about an hour or so before Dad realized the dogs were being awfully quiet and took a look around. Strangely enough, they were not there. So he called Mom and Mom called me and I called Kevin and pretty soon we were driving around the south side of town calling the dogs' names. In between calling their names we were calling one another and Animal Care and Control.

I don't remember anymore which dog was found first, but let's say it was Logan. He was found sitting like a good dog and looking very happy on Mom and Dad's front porch, because that's where you go after a morning of running around town dodging cars. How do we know he was dodging cars? Well, because Asia was found at Animal Care and Control. Mom and I dutifully went to pick her up only to find a stinky, smelly, wet dog who apparently had been swimming - or drowning, depending on who you listen to - in Reservoir Park's cement pond.

Here's how I envision it - the two dogs went gaily running out of my back yard, crossed fairfield, crossed Harrison, crossed Calhoun, crossed Clinton and ended up at the park, where Asia immediately jumped in the biggest kiddie pool she'd ever seen, possibly finding it deeper than her kiddie pool at home. Logan, meanwhile, not being one for water, went back across Clinton, across Calhoun, and across Harrison to my Mom and Dad's house, where he waited patiently for someone to come let him in so he could take a well-deserved nap.

The afterward: Dad has been lectured about leaving gates open and trusting idiot dogs. Will it ever happen again on his watch? Undoubtedly. Logan and Asia were also lectured on the perils of running across busy streets and diving into pools with no exit strategy. Will they ever do it again? I shudder just thinking about it.